Tijuana

Tijuana (/tiəˈwɑːnə/ TEE-ə-WAH-nə[4]; Spanish: [tiˈxwana]) is the largest city in the Mexican state of Baja California and on the Baja California Peninsula. It is part of the San Diego–Tijuana international transborder agglomeration. As one of the largest and fastest growing cities of Mexico,[5] Tijuana exerts a strong influence on local economics, education, culture, art, and politics. As the city has become a leading center in the country, so has the surrounding metropolitan area, a major industrial and paramount metropolis in northwestern Mexico. Currently one of the fastest growing metropolitan areas in Mexico,[5] Tijuana maintains global city status.[6] As of 2015, the city of Tijuana had a population of 1,641,570.[3]

Tijuana is located on the Gold Coast of Baja California, and is the municipal seat and the cultural and commercial center of Tijuana Municipality. Tijuana covers 70% of the municipality but contains over 80% of its population. A dominant manufacturing center of the North American continent, the city maintains facilities of many multinationalconglomerate companies. In the early 21st century, Tijuana became the medical-device manufacturing capital of North America. Tijuana is also a growing cultural center and has been recognized as an important new cultural mecca.[7] The city is the most visited border city in the globe; sharing a border of about 24 km (15 mi) with its sister city San Diego. More than fifty million people cross the border between these two cities every year. This metropolitan crossing makes the San Ysidro Port of Entry the busiest land-border crossing in the world.[8] It is estimated that the two border crossing stations between the cities proper of San Diego and Tijuana account for 300,000 daily border crossings alone.

Tijuana traces its modern history to the arrival of Spanish explorers in the 16th century who were mapping the coast of the Californias. As the American conquest of northern Mexico ended with the Treaty of Guadalupe Hidalgo, Tijuana's new international position on the border gave rise to a new economic and political structure. The city was founded on July 11, 1889 as urban development began. Often known by its supposed initials, T.J., and nicknamed Gateway to Mexico, the city has historically served as a tourist center dating back to the 1880s.

Name

Etymology

The first historic mission documents — primarily baptism, marriage, and death records — name the city with the names as 'La Tía Juana', 'Tiguana', 'Tiuana', 'Teguana', 'Tiwana', 'Tijuan', 'Ticuan', and the present day name, 'Tijuana'. The commonly accepted theory among historians is that the modern-day Tijuana is derived from a word belonging to the Kumeyaay language – the original aboriginal inhabitants of the San Diego-Tijuana region. Tijuana derives from the Kumeyaay word Tiwan, meaning by-the-sea. Common in regional folklore, a myth exists purporting that the name is a conjunction of Tía Juana, the Spanish-language version of Aunt Jane. Tía Juana provided food and lodging to travelers. The story has become a popular myth with residents of the city and has particular resonance among those who think of the city as a place of hospitality.

Modern

In Spanish, the name is pronounced /tiˈxwana/ – with three syllables, and a velar fricative as represented by the sound written as j. In English, the name is usually mispronounced as having four syllables: /tiːəˈwɑːnə/ ("Tia-wana"), a pronunciation that was common amongst California English speakers in the present; less commonly, it is pronounced truer to Spanish, with three /tiːˈwɑːnə/. In California, and particularly in Southern California, it is often referred to as T.J. Baja Californians have adopted this pronunciation as Tiyei. In Spanish the demonym for someone from Tijuana is Tijuanense, while in English the demonym is Tijuanan. A very common slang term used for a person from Tijuana is Tijuanero.

The nickname Tijuas is increasingly popular among residents and visitors alike. Due to a recent increase in violence in the city, a new term is developing. The phrase Yo Tijuaneo, ¿y tú? translates to I Tijuanate, and you?. This term comes from a new popular local verb Tijuanear meaning to Tijuana, describing the cosmopolitan aspects of living in the city and frequently crossing the border.

Further settlement took place near the end of the mission era when José María de Echeandía, governor of the Baja California and Alta California, awarded a large land grant to Santiago Argüello in 1829. This large cattle ranch, Rancho Tía Juana ("Aunt Jane Ranch"), covered 100 km2 (40 sq mi). In 1848, as a result of the Mexican–American War with the United States, Mexico lost all of Alta California. The majority of the 1,000 Hispanic families living in Alta California stayed there, though some moved south to remain inside Mexico. Because of this Tijuana gained a different purpose on the international border. The area had been populated by ranchers, but Tijuana developed a new social economic structure. These were farming and livestock grazing, plus as a transit area for prospectors.[11]

Urban settlement began in 1889, when descendants of Santiago Argüello and Augustín Olvera entered an agreement to begin developing the city of Tijuana. The date of the agreement, July 11, 1889, is recognized as the founding of the city.[12] Tijuana saw its future in tourism from the beginning. From the late 19th century to the first few decades of the 20th century, the city attracted large numbers of Californians coming for trade and entertainment. The California land boom of the 1880s led to the first big wave of tourists, who were called "excursionists" and came looking for echoes of the famous novel "Ramona" by Helen Hunt Jackson.

In 1911, during the Mexican Revolution, revolutionaries claiming loyalty to Ricardo Flores Magón took over the city for shortly over a month. Federal troops then arrived. Assisted by the "defensores de Tijuana", they routed the revolutionaries, who fled north and were promptly arrested by the United States Army.

The Panama-California Exposition of 1915 brought many visitors to the nearby California city of San Diego. Tijuana attracted these tourists with a Feria Típica Mexicana – Typical Mexican Fair. This included curio shops, regional food, thermal baths, horse racing and boxing.

The first professional race track opened in January 1916, just south of the border gate. It was almost immediately destroyed by the great "Hatfield rainmaker" flood of 1916. Rebuilt in the general area, it ran horse races until the new Agua Caliente track opened in 1929, several miles south and across the river on higher ground.

Legal drinking and gambling attracted U.S nationals in the 1920s during Prohibition. The Avenida Revolución area became the city's tourist center, with casinos and the Hotel Caesar's, birthplace of the Caesar salad.

In 1925, the city attempted to shed its negative image of hedonism and lawlessness created by American mob empresarios by renaming itself Zaragosa, but its name soon reverted to Tijuana.

In 1928, the Agua Caliente Touristic Complex was opened, including hotel, spa, dog-track, private airport, golf course and gambling casino. A year later, the new Agua Caliente Racetrack joined the complex. During the eight years it operated, the Agua Caliente hotel, casino and spa achieved a near mythical status, with Hollywood stars and gangsters flying in and playing. Rita Hayworth was discovered there. Musical nightclub productions were broadcast over the radio. A singer known as "la Faraona" got shot in a love-triangle and gave birth to the myth of a beautiful lady ghost. Remnants of the Agua Caliente casino can be seen in the outdoor swimming pool and the "minarete" (actually a former incinerator chimney) nearby the southern end of Avenida Sanchez Taboada, on the grounds of what is now the Lazaro Cardenas educational complex.

In 1935, President Cárdenas decreed an end to gambling and casinos in Baja California, and the Agua Caliente complex faltered, then closed. In 1939, it was reopened as a junior high school (now, Preparatoria Lázaro Cárdenas). The buildings themselves were torn down in the 1970s and replaced by modern scholastic architecture.

With increased tourism and a large number of Mexican citizens relocating to Tijuana, the city's population grew from 21,971 to 65,364 between 1940 and 1950.

Established maquiladoras in Tijuana and the border towns with the U.S. in the mid-1960s.[13]

With the decline of nightlife and tourism in the 1950s, the city restructured its tourist industry, by promoting a more family-oriented scene. Tijuana developed a greater variety of attractions and activities to offer its visitors.

In 1994, PRI presidential candidate Luis Donaldo Colosio was assassinated in Tijuana while making an appearance in the plaza of Lomas Taurinas, a neighborhood nestled in a valley near Centro. The shooter was caught and imprisoned, but doubts remain about who the mastermind might have been.

In the new century, Tijuana has become an important city of commerce and migration for Mexico and US. In spite of the 9/11 on 2001 and the violence and crime wave from 2008-2011, the city has received a big number of tourists from US, China, Japan and the south of Mexico. Thanks to the realization of cultural and business festivals, the city has improved its image before the world, standing out as a competitive city for investment. Currently, the commercial and business sector is committed to the boom in the gastronomic industry, craft beer, entertainment and real estate, as well as medical tourism, to attract visitors and investors.

Geography

Colorado Hill, the highest elevation of Tijuana.

Tijuana is the western-most city in Mexico, and consequently in Latin America, and the 2nd largest city of northern Mexico. Located about 210 kilometers (130 mi) west of the state-capital, Mexicali, the city is bordered to the north by the cities of Imperial Beach, and the San Diego neighborhoods of San Ysidro and Otay Mesa, California. To the southwest of the city is Rosarito Beach, while to the south is unincorporated territory of Tijuana Municipality. The city is nestled among hills, canyons, and gullies. The central part of the city lies in a valley through which flows the channeled Tijuana River.

Housing development in the Tijuana Hills has led to eradication of many seasonal mountain streams. This lack of natural drainage makes places within the city vulnerable to landslides during the rainy season. The varied terrain of Tijuana gives the city elevation extremes that range from sea level to 790 metres (2,590 ft).

Tijuana is noted for its rough terrain, which includes many canyons, steep hills, and mesas. Among noted canyons in Tijuana are Canyon K and Canyon Johnson. Large Tijuana hills include Red Hill (Cerro Colorado) and Hill of the Bees (Cerro de las Abejas) in the eastern part of the city.

The city is located near the terminus of the Tijuana River and within the Tijuana River Basin. The Tijuana River is an intermittent river, 195 km (121 mi) long, on the Pacific coast of northern Baja California in Mexico and Southern California in the United States. It drains an arid area along the California–Baja California border, flowing through Mexico for most of its course and then crossing the border for the last 8 km (5 mi) of its course where it forms an estuary that empties into the ocean. The river's lower reaches harbor the last undeveloped coastal wetlands in San Diego County, and some of the last in Southern California, amidst a highly urbanized environment at the southern city limits of Imperial Beach.

As Downtown Tijuana was built at the bottom of the river valley, the district is subject to seasonal flooding created by drain-off from the Tijuana Hills. During this time, east-bound portions of the Via Rapida (east-west highway) may be blocked off by the Tijuana Police due to hazardous conditions.

Cityscape

The city's skyscraper history is relatively recent.[14] Some of the first highrise building complexes constructed in the city were the twin towers of Grand Hotel Tijuana.[14] Tijuana experienced a building boom that was brought to a halt by the Great Recession. Among buildings that succumbed to the time period was the Trump Ocean Resort Baja Mexico that would have been located in Playas and reached 98 m (322 ft).[15] Currently the tallest building, and soon to be the largest complex in footage, New City Residential reaches 102 m (335 ft). Overall, the city maintains 33 completed structures with other proposed and under-construction skyscrapers.[14]

Tijuana Arch

The Tijuana skyline is the fifth largest skyline in Mexico and is located in the Zona Rio and to a smaller extent, Playas de Tijuana. In the Zona Rio the buildings are concentrated on the Tijuana River, lined parallel to the river; and on the edges of the Tijuana Country Club. In Playas the high rises are currently focused on the coast. Recent construction on high rises has begun in the aforementioned areas, as buildings such as New City Residential and Grand Hotel Tijuana have been developed and taken prominent places in the skyline as the tallest buildings. From Tijuana's skyline the San Diego skyline can also be seen.

Houses on a hill in Tijuana

Boroughs and neighborhoods

The municipality of Tijuana is divided into eight administrative boroughs, or Delegaciones. The Tijuana metropolitan area occupies all of borough seats. The boroughs are in turn divided into colonias or ejidos. These boroughs offer administrative services such as urban planning, civil registry, inspection, verification, public works and community development and are served by a delegado.

Revolución Av in Centro neighborhood.

Centro — "Delegación Centro" includes the old downtown (Zona Centro), new business district (Zona Río), red light district (Zona Norte), and other adjacent neighborhoods ("zonas").[16] This is the historical midpoint of Tijuana; the municipal palace is located here as well as most of the tourist zones, such as Avenida Revolución and the business district. The Tijuana Cultural Center (CECUT for CEntro CUltural de Tijuana) is located here as well as the Plaza Río Tijuana, until recently the largest mall in the state, within the Zona Rio.

Cerro Colorado — The Cerro Colorado ("Red Hill") is located here and it is surrounded by houses. Because of its height many of the area's antennae for radio and television stations are located on its peak.

La Mesa — This is where the Morelos Park, the largest public park in the city, is located, as well as the Plaza Mundo Divertido, the new Macroplaza and the CETYS University.

Sanchez Taboada — Like the previous borough this is mostly a residential area, but within its borders are located many "maquiladoras" specially at Pacific Industrial Park.

Climate

Tijuana's climate is a semi-arid (Köppen climate classificationBSh),[19] with about 231 mm (9.09 in) of annual precipitation, and generally mild to warm weather year-round. It has characteristics of the Mediterranean climate (Csa) found to the immediate north, with most of the annual precipitation falling in the winter, between the months of November and March.[20]

Tijuana River Estuary with Tijuana Hills in the back

During the rainy season, November through March, storms originate from fronts entering off of the Pacific Ocean. January is the wettest month of the year for the city and during this time a periodic event, similar to June Gloom, is observed created by marine layer. January is the coolest month, during which temperatures average 13.6 °C (56.5 °F). In the city April signifies the end of winter and the start of Santa Ana winds – observed in Southern California as well. Though the daytime highs are generally around 20 °C (68 °F), heat waves can reach up to 33 °C (91 °F). The hottest months in the city, also the dry season, are August and September, during which temperatures average 22.0 °C (71.6 °F). Summers are by far the driest time of year since influences from the California Current and the North Pacific High suppress the formation of rainfall caused by the North American Monsoon. As in coastal Southern California, air pollution sometimes occurs during periods of temperature inversion, especially during summer and fall, but (unlike Mexico City) is seldom severe and in recent years has lessened due to cleaner car engines.[21]

Frost and snow are rare phenomena in the city as temperatures are usually well above freezing. Yet, in December 1967, snow fell in the city and in January 2007 feather light snow fell in the east of the city. However, excessive amounts of snow fall have never been recorded in the city. On February 14, 2008 a winter storm caused an unusual snowfall in the upper reaches of the hills of the city. During this time heavy snowfall was also observed in the Cuyamaca Mountains of San Diego County.

The record low temperature recorded in the city was −6 °C (21 °F), while the highest was 49 °C (120 °F).

Tijuana has a diverse cosmopolitan population which includes migrants from other parts of Mexico and from all over the world. Tijuana has one of Mexico's largest Asian populations, predominantly consisting of Chinese, Koreans, and Japanese immigrants. Tijuana also has a large and rapidly growing population of United States citizens, mostly from Southern California. Many Latin Americans, notable Cubans, and Guatemalans, have made Tijuana their home. The city also has many Lebanese, Italian, French, Spanish citizens. Recently, the city has received a large influx of Haitian immigrants.[26]

Tijuana's traffic near the Mexico-USA international borderline.

The majority of Tijuana's migrant Mexican population hail from Sinaloa, Michoacán, Jalisco, Oaxaca, and the Federal District. Because of the diversity of Mexico and the influx of immigrants from almost every region in the country, there are no accurate estimates on ethnicity or race of the current population. The heavy influx of immigrants to the city and municipality of Tijuana has led to job creation in the form of over 700 twin-plant (maquiladora) factories, which serve as the basis of employment for the majority of the working-class people in northern Mexico. The high poverty level in Tijuana is attributed to the city's "magnet status" for people who have come from the poorer south of the nation and citizens from other nations seeking to escape from extreme poverty. Tijuana holds a status that provides the possibility of employment as well as higher education and the dream of crossing the border. Tijuana and Baja California in general have much stronger economies and higher incomes than other Mexican cities along the United States border, as well as more moderate weather.

Tijuana today is one of the fastest growing cities in Mexico with an average of 80,000 people moving to Tijuana yearly. In terms of area, the city grows by approximately three hectares a day, mostly east and south as the city is mostly built out to the beach already with the exception of some canyons. Along with settlements separated from Tijuana proper and other communities unimproved land, big business moves in providing supermarkets and retail to marginal areas, along with paved roads. The city experiences the construction of 26,000 new settlers a year that has led to the unregulated, illegal squatter homes that takes place in the hills and valleys of ever expanding Tijuana, most of these areas are still without city services like sidewalks, paving, streetlights, and public transit. This is an ongoing process: as older and existing squatter areas are brought into the city services, more marginal areas become occupied by squatters.

Squatter areas are home to displaced and uprooted people, among them the indigenous and poverty stricken, migrants deported from the USA, many of whom are also without Mexican citizenship. In recent years, working class suburban housing estates have sprung up in the fringes to provide safe homes and a sense of land ownership, to escape and isolate their families and young ones from the violence of the drug war and squatter areas, these outlying communities tend to be much better equipped than their squatter counterparts. Nevertheless, some remote areas are drug lords plantations for narcotics, and delinquency spreads to even areas that are considered safe havens, which periodically come to light in the newspapers.

National Population Council (CONAPO) data has estimated that by 2030, growth rates maintaining, the city will become the second largest in Mexico and anchor to the fourth largest metropolitan area in Mexico. The suburban sprawl observed in Tijuana leaves the downtown and beach areas relatively affluent.

While the INEGI Census 2010 placed Tijuana's population at 1.3 million, only two percent more than in 2005 Census, Tijuana City Council estimates from 2010 place the population closer to two million, at 1.6 million.[27] As funding for cities is based on the populace of the city, the Council worries about receiving adequate funds to provide for the needs of the city. The population discrepancies may be explained by a few factors. Shanty towns that have not been rasterized and an undercount, people having left Tijuana for United States, and people leaving Tijuana for the interior of Mexico due to the intensification of the drug war, and suburbanization outside city limits but still inside the municipality. Tijuana, because of the dreams of border crossers, and its relatively higher wages compared to the rest of Mexico, naturally attracts immigrants. Since an improvement in security since 2011, the population of Tijuana as reflected in the 2015 Mexican census is expected to return to its normal growth curve; the great reduction in violence should make the settlement of Tijuana an attractive option again versus fringe valleys, nevertheless exact figures from the census await.

According to the Second Census of Population and Housing of the year 2010 conducted by the INEGI (National Institute of Statistics, Geography and Informatics) the municipality of Tijuana has 1,559,683 inhabitants within 879 km2, the city or settlement of Tijuana only covers ⅔ of that area. While the metropolitan area of Tijuana (1392 km2), composed of Tijuana Municipality and Rosarito Beach Municipality, has 1,751,302 inhabitants. Tecate Municipality, adjacent to Tijuana Municipality, has not yet been considered by the government as part of the metropolitan area. However, there is great economic and cultural exchange between the cities regions though there are still expanses of rural land. As Tijuana grows, many of its suburbs have been built increasingly inland, and in the direction of Tecate; Valley of the Palms is a large planned city between the two.

As of 2005 the large majority of the city's population, 96%, adhere to the beliefs of Christianity. The denominations are further divided into followers of Catholicism – 61% – and of Protestantism – 35%. While other beliefs occupying a 4% margin in the city include Taoism (among other Asian and European religions), atheism and agnosticism is also found.

During peak years of violent crime in the city, gun battles between rival cartels, and between cartels and the police, erupted in public. In April 2008, police found 1,500 shell casings on various streets after one battle left 13 suspected drug traffickers dead.[31] In 2009 and depending on the source, Tijuana Municipality experienced either 556 or 1,118 murders, mostly as a result of the drug war.[32][33]

There were 492 murders in 2013, a 48% increase in the homicide rate between 2012 and 2013. This was the highest number of murders since 2010.[34] By the end of 2017, the number of murders in Tijuana increased to 1,744, which was almost double those in 2016.[35]

Government

Region

Palacio de Gobierno de Tijuana (Tijuana City Hall)

At present the parties with greater presence in Tijuana are the National Action Party (PAN), Institutional Revolutionary Party (PRI), and Ecologist Green Party of Mexico (PVEM). The PAN has been the dominant party in the city for 20 years. Historically the PRI had been the dominant party in regional politics, until 1989 when the PAN began to dominate the city, until yet again, in 2004, PRI began regaining prominence and won the Mayor's Office.

Less prominent parties also maintain relations with the dominant parties. These other parties, with less presence include the New Alliance Party (PANAL), Social Encounter Party (PES), and Party of the Democratic Revolution (PRD). Allied with the PAN at the state and local level under the Alliance for Baja California are the Social Encounter Party (PES) and New Alliance Party (PANAL). Allied with the PRI at the state and local level under the "Alliance for Better Living" are the Ecologist Green Party of Mexico (PVEM) and Baja California State Party (PEBC).

International

Tijuana's importance and rise to a global city has led to its recognition among countries worldwide. In addition to international cultural recognition, Tijuana has received political recognition and is a developing a political center currently host to eight consulates from European, Asian, and North American countries.[36]

Economy

Manufacturing

Tijuana is a large manufacturing center, and in addition to tourism, it serves as a cornerstone of the city economy. In the past decade alone, Tijuana became the medical device manufacture capital of the North American continent, surpassing previous leader Minneapolis - Saint Paul.[37]

The city's proximity to Southern California and its large, skilled, diverse, and relatively inexpensive workforce make it an attractive city for foreign companies looking to establish extensive industrial parks composed of assembly plants that are called maquiladoras, even more so than other cities in the US-Mexican border zone, taking advantage of the North American Free Trade Agreement (NAFTA) to export products. At its peak, in 2001 Tijuana had roughly 820 of these 'maquiladoras' (today the number is closer to 550).[38] Foreign and domestic companies employ thousands of employees in these plants, usually in assembly-related labor. Such jobs are not demanding but typically offer above average (although not high paying) salaries for Mexico, with most maqiladoras jobs beginning at Mex$100 per day (about 5 US dollars, as of September 2016), significantly above the Mexican minimum wage of Mex$57.46 (about 3 US dollars, as of September 2016). Companies that have set up maquiladoras in Tijuana include Lanix, Hyundai, Sony,[39]Vortec, BMW, Vizio, Toyota, Dell, Samsung, Kodak, Matsushita/Panasonic, Bimbo, GE, Nabisco, Ford, Microsoft, Cemex, Zonda, Philips, Pioneer, Airbus, Plantronics, Siemens Mexico, Jaguar, Pall Medical, Tara, Sanyo and Volkswagen. Many of the maquiladoras are located in the Otay Mesa and Florido sections of Tijuana.

There are also some high-tech firms and telemarketing companies in the city, drawing people with technical trade and college degrees to Tijuana. One example is Telvista, a Texas-based telemarketing company that maintains three call centers along Blvd. Agua Caliente. This makes Tijuana a popular city for migrant workers as well as college graduates from other parts of Mexico as well as other countries to the south.

Economic development has its central business district at Zona Río, which together, with the corridor along Blvd. Agua Caliente (the extension of Avenida Revolución), contains the majority of the higher-end office space in the city. Binational economic development along the US–Mexico border is key to the development of Tijuana going forward. Multiple regional (San Diego-US/Tijuana-MX) think-tanks exist on both sides of the border that promote such regional collaboration and innovation.

Tourist economy and entertainment

Tijuana also relies on tourism for a major part of its revenue. About 300,000 visitors cross by foot or car from the San Ysidro point of entry in the United States every day. Restaurants and taco stands, pharmacies, bars and dance clubs, and shops and stalls selling Mexican crafts and souvenirs are part of the draw for the city's tourists, many located within walking distance of the border. The city's tourist centers include Downtown Tijuana including the nightlife hot spots around La Sexta, Avenida Revolucion, souvenir shopping at the Mercado de Artesanías and Plaza Viva Tijuana, Tijuana's Cultural Center (CECUT) and neighboring Plaza Río Tijuana shopping center, and the city's best known vices, in the form of its legal Red Light District and gambling (Agua Caliente). Mexico's drinking age of 18 (vs. 21 in the United States) makes it a common weekend destination for many high school and college aged Southern Californians who tend to stay on Avenida Revolución.

Tijuana is also known for its red-light districtZona Norte (also referred to as La Coahuila after one of its main streets) with legal prostitution in strip clubs and on the street.[40] The strip clubs are typically full-contact, meaning the dancers let patrons fondle them.[41] Many dancers also sell their sexual services.[42] In a 1999 estimation, there were 15,000 women engaged in prostitution in Tijuana outside of clubs and brothels.[43]

Tijuana has many pharmacies that target visitors from the United States, which sell some medicines without prescriptions and/or at much lower costs than in the U.S. Many medications still require a Mexican prescription, which can be obtained from adjacent doctors' offices. People filling up prescriptions for drugs classified in the US as Schedule II or Schedule III have found it more difficult to locate such medications, and the purchase of pseudoephedrine also has become restricted by Tijuana pharmacies, just as in the U.S. To fill a prescription in Tijuana for any drug covered by the US Controlled Substances Act and legally bring it into the United States requires a prescription from the United States for re-import. Americans can import up to a 90-day supply of non-controlled medications for personal use to the USA from Mexico and other countries.

Businesses such as auto detailing, medical and dental services and plastic surgery are heavily marketed, and are usually much less expensive than in the U.S.

Tijuana is headquarters for Mexico's largest gambling concern, Grupo Caliente, and home to several of its casinos.[44]

Retail

Mercado Hidalgo is a traditional marketplace.

Tijuana possesses a diversity of shopping malls. Plaza Río Tijuana is the largest mall and is located just a few minutes away from the U.S. border between Paseo de los Heroes and the Tijuana River. The mall hosts a Cinépolis and a Cinépolis VIP movie theater, a Sanborns restaurant and a variety of shops, including the large department store Sears. Plaza Mundo Divertido is off of Tijuana's main east-west highway with arcades and rides for the whole family. Plaza Monarca is on a north-south artery Gato Bronco and is anchored by the Cinépolis and grocery store chain Soriana. Plaza Carrousel, so named because the mall contains a children's merry-go-round, is minutes from the Cinco y Diez retail hub centered around a former five and dime store. The beach community of Playas de Tijuana saw a burst of construction in 2004, which yielded the Plaza Coronado complex next to the existing Comercial Mexicana-anchored Centro Comercial Playas.

Tijuana was the headquarters of 14-store Dorian's department store chain until its demise in 2009.

Culinary

Tijuana, along with the nearby Valle de Guadalupe, has recently become a culinary hotspot due to its Baja Med cuisine, including chefs such as Javier Plascencia, but also for its tacos, other street food, food trucks, coffee houses and artisanal beer.[45]

Education

Tijuana is home to many private Primary Schools, Secondary Schools and High Schools as well as nationally high ranked colleges and universities. Notable primary and secondary schools include Metropolitan, Instituto México, Instituto Cumbres, President Lázaro Cárdenas School, Agua Caliente School Center High, Politécnico de Baja California(CLUB DE QUÍMICA), José Fimbres Moreno School and the State High School, and Ignacio Ramírez School located in Cerro Colorado. These schools maintain recognition for their demands and high standards.

Tijuana maintains multiple higher education institutions. These include the Autonomous University of Baja California, Tijuana (UABC), Instituto Tecnológico de Tijuana (ITT), Universidad Iberoamericana (UIA-Tijuana), CETYS Universidad, Universidad Xochicalco, and University of the Californias. Other colleges include Tijuana University Center, Tijuana University of Technology, Graduate Center of the Northwest, and the University of Professional Development. The city is the seat of the Colegio de la Frontera Norte (COLEF), an institution of scientific research and higher education, specializing in the study of the problems in the border region between Mexico and the United States. In August 2009, Metropolitan UABC opened in Valle de Las Palmas, in the Tijuana metropolitan area.

Culture and contemporary life

Many foreigners travel to Tijuana to drink and dance, buy prescription drugs, purchase bootleg brand-name clothing, timepieces, and other personal accessories found globally, as well as manufactured and hand-crafted local curiosities. Locals and regular tourists avoid hassles by visiting the clubs at Plaza Fiesta or other areas of the Zona Río without the crowds, heavy marketing, and occasional tourist misbehavior or outright lawbreaking common on the Revolución strip. However, Avenida Revolución has been known for its proliferation of nightclub shows, primarily catering to casual tourists. While still an entertaining town with an enjoyable atmosphere, some locals and tourists feel it has lost an "anything goes" atmosphere, that was dangerous to locals, tourists, and the tourism industry.

Entertainment and performing arts

Although poverty is widespread throughout the city, a very affluent and prominent society has developed in Tijuana. Gentrification is evident throughout certain districts. The Tijuana Cultural Center (CECUT) opened on October 20, 1982 with the goals of strengthening Tijuana's image, and to advertise cultural tourism from the US. The building was constructed by the architects Pedro Ramírez Vázquez and Manuel Rosen Morrison. The CECUT first opened as part of the National Fund for Social Activities then in 1983 it was part of the Ministry of Tourism. Later that year CECUT was joined into the Ministry of Public Education. Finally, in 1986 the CECUT gained its own independence, and was able to plan its own budget. In 1988 they changed their actions guiding themselves towards a comprehensive national cultural policy.[46]

It is composed of lecture rooms, video rooms, a library, an exhibition hall, the Museum of the Californias, a futuristic planetary movie theater that displays IMAX films, and a restaurant. Since 1992, the CECUT has hosted the Orchestra of Baja California (OBC) and the Center of Scenic Arts of the Northwest (CAEN), it headquarters the Hispanic-American Center for Guitar (CHG). Since 2001, the CECUT receives about a million visitors per year, making it Baja California's most important cultural center. Another important culture center is La Casa de la Cultura, which comprises a school, a theater, and a public library. Dance, painting, music, plastic arts, photography and languages are taught there. The city also has the Instituto Municipal de Arte y Cultura (Municipal Institute of Art and Culture), the Tijuana Wax Museum, and the Museo El Trompo (The Trompo Museum).

The Tijuana Country Club (Club Campestre de Tijuana) has many affluent members and a famous golf course. A large sized Rotary Club is also located in Tijuana. The Grand Hotel Tijuana and many luxurious restaurants have been developed along Bulevar Agua Caliente (often called "El Bulevar" by locals) and in the Zona Rio. Around the country club and Agua Caliente, many developments of wealthy and luxurious gated communities have filled the hillsides, most of which have views similar to Mount Soledad in San Diego or areas of Orange County. Tijuana's most prestigious entertainment center is the Tijuana Country Club golf club, but the Agua Caliente Racetrack is the most notable that is open to the general public. Parque Morelos has a small zoo and park space; Parque de la Amistad has a small pond, and a running and dirt-bike track. Parque Teniente Guerrero is a park located downtown with a public library and weekend entertainment by clowns. All public libraries in Tijuana have Internet access; unfortunately, many of the available computers are not in service. Plus a library card is needed to use the computers. To get a library card one must have a government issued id card plus one has to provide two special size photographs. This of course leaves much of the huge immigrant population of Tijuana out of luck, as many of them don't have identification cards.
El Foro was an attraction for being a jai alai venue, but now is commonly used as a concert venue.

Nightlife

Tijuana's nightlife scene is one of the city's strongest attractions. The area surrounding "La Sexta", the intersection at Calle Sexta and Av. Revolución, is now a major hub of new bars and dance clubs. Zona Rio, Tijuana's new Downtown, is home to some of the city's finest restaurants and bars. Another capstone of Tijuana's entertainment offerings is its adult nightlife industry, which includes the city's red light district as well as less conspicuous adult entertainment venues.

Art

Monument to Hope in Otay Mesa

Tijuana also has a very active and independent artist community whose internationally recognized work has earned Tijuana the title of "one of the most important new cultural meccas", according to Newsweek.,[47] an exhibition of Tijuana's current art scene, is being curated by the Museum of Contemporary Art San Diego and is traveling across the USA in 2006 and 2007.[48] Art collectives like Bulbo and film production like Palenque Filmaciones explore the use of film like the award-winning Tijuana Makes Me Happy, media like television bulbo TV and print "bulbo PRESS", to show different realities of Tijuana out of Mexico. In 2004, Tijuana earned international acclaim for an art exhibition displayed on the cement banks of the Tijuana River and along the Mexico/U.S. border fence in Otay Mesa.

Graffiti is widespread in Tijuana. They can range from free-hand writing in spray can and marker form, often carrying social or sexual commentary in English or Spanish, pictures in wheatpaste and stencils, consisting of stenciled renderings of personalities crucial to Hispanic culture from past and present eras, such as television news announcers or stars, but also extending to images of artists like Salvador Dalí. Graffiti in Tijuana may seem at first to consist largely of simplistic tags and thus not as technically evolved, colorful, or accepted in the mainstream as the "pieces" of graffiti scenes of the United States, Europe, or Japan, but large, colorful graffiti murals adorn walls from both native Tijuanan artists as well as visiting graffiti writers, especially from California. The Tijuanan art pieces show as much prowess and skill as those made by their more renowned U.S. counterparts, although illicit graffiti are strongly discouraged by the Tijuana government, as in other major metropolitan areas.

Musical clubs along the Avenida Revolución area and others often cater to a diverse range of tastes by offering nightly variations on musical fare, such as new wave music one night, and punk rock bands on the next. Some European metal bands whose members cannot perform in the United States due to prior felony convictions in their own countries play music festivals in Tijuana for fans from both Mexico and the United States.

Stadiums

The stadium is the Estadio Caliente, match venue for Club Tijuana, a Liga MXMéxico Primera Divisiónfootball team. It is located in the Agua Caliente Racetrack in Tijuana, Baja California (Mexico). Caliente Homes Stadium, is a multi-purpose center in Tijuana. It is mainly used for football matches, has a seating capacity of 21,000 spectators. Opened in June 2008, according to the work schedule. It was a significant reason for Tijuana Club was promoted to the México Primera División; FEMEXFUT requires participating teams should have a stadium with a seating capacity of over 15,000. It is at this stage the U-17 FIBA Americas Championship 2009 was held bound for Nigeria. Was introduced in México Primera División during the Apertura 2011 tournament of the Mexican Football Federation.

Gasmart stadium
The Gasmart Stadium for baseball is the home of the Toros de Tijuana. It opened in 1977 and housed the Colts missing Tijuana Mexican Pacific League. Subsequently, the stadium was used for football matches. For 2004, professional baseball returned, now with a franchise LMB under the name of Toros de Tijuana, which, the following year, changed its name to Colts as it had been known previously. At first the facility was called Cerro Colorado Stadium, due to its location at the foot of the hill of that name. With the return of baseball, chain supermarkets Calimax bought the naming rights to the stadium. In 2004, the first season of Toros, the fans filled the stadium for most matches. On April 4, 2013, the stadium was remodeled, marking the beginning of a new era for Toros de Tijuana.

Infrastructure

Excel Medical Center

Utilities

Water

The Tijuana State Commission of Public Services (CESPT) supplies the city with its water, while the city receives its electricity from La Comisión Federal de Electricidad (CFE).

Waste Water

The International Boundary Wastewater Treatment Plant (IWTP) developed, as a joint project of the USA and Mexico in the mid-1980s following substantial environmental studies,[49] treats 25 million gallons of water per day (mgd) from the Tijuana River; directly pumped across the border from the central collection point in Mexico. When the river is flowing, the diversion system of the plant begins operating and diverts up to about 12-13mgd to the IWTP. The total amount of water being diverted must not exceed 25 mgd, based on a monthly average decided upon by permit conditions, although the IWTP can treat sustained flows up to 45mgd daily and peaks of 70mgd for a short period. The diversion system regularly sends approximately six to eight million gallons of water daily to the IWTP. The plant is currently being upgraded to include a secondary treatment facility.

The city also four to five decentralize units that are part of the Tijuana/Rosarito Potable Water and Wastewater Master Plan. This plan was required as part of Public Law 106-457, put into order November 7, 2000, which was written to allow the Bajagua project to move forward. The master plan was a binational collaborative effort by EPA and CESPT and addressed San Diego-Tijuana's needs for the next 20 years. The plants are intended to treat approximately 5mgd each, to tertiary levels and provide the reclaimed water to the surrounding areas for agriculture, industry etc. There are several issues that they are facing: no infrastructure to convey the reclaimed water to customers and inadequate groundwater recharge infrastructure.

Telecommunications

Tijuana's telephonic system operates under area code 664, but it is not the same area code 664 that is part of the North American Numbering Plan (NANP) because Mexico is not one of the countries represented in the North American Numbering Plan Administration (NANPA) where the country code is 1. So, to dial a phone number from San Diego to Tijuana requires an international access code and Mexico's Country Code, 52, before dialing the area code and the number. It is similar for anyone calling from Tijuana to the United States.

Telephonic land lines in Tijuana are provided by the company Telnor; other companies include Axtel and Alestra. Popular cell phone carriers in the city-region include Movistar, Telcel, Iusacell, Unefon, Nextel, in conjunction with Nextel USA, provides coverage in the city and all of Baja California for American Nextel users.[50] Nextel is popular among businessmen, students, and professionals. Cell phones also have historic usage in Tijuana as the first cellular call in Mexico was made in Tijuana in 1989.

Transportation

Fed. 1 towards San Diego and the Rio Zone

Tijuana is a major gateway to the interior of Mexico to which it is connected by air and road directly, and by sea via the ports of Ensenada and San Diego. Within Tijuana there are freeways and other roads, and buses, but no passenger rail.

Local public transportation in Tijuana is run by semiprivate companies, and has one of the most complex, or perhaps unorganized networks.

Air

The Tijuana International Airport (General Abelardo L. Rodríguez IA) is the city's main airport, one of the busiest in Mexico, and serves eleven airlines with destinations across Mexico and Shanghai, China. Tijuana Airport is also a second main airport for the San Diego area for passengers heading south into Mexico and Latin America, who may use the airport's Cross Border Xpress terminal located on the U.S. side of the border in Otay Mesa and connected to the rest of the airport on the Mexican side by a pedestrian toll bridge. U.S. and Canadian destinations can be reached via the San Diego International Airport, located about 35 kilometers (22 mi) north of the international border.

Just north of the San Ysidro border crossing, Interstate 5 and Interstate 805 head northbound to San Diego and beyond. From the Otay Mesa border crossing, Interstate 905 takes drivers west to connect with both I-805 and I-5.

Tijuana Lighthouse

Intercity buses

The city's main bus station is in its eastern borough. A small terminal downtown serves a few Mexican bus lines, and U.S.-based Greyhound Lines and Crucero USA. Another bus station near the border provides frequent service to Ensenada, and other major cities—including Mazatlán, Culiacán, Hermosillo, and Guadalajara. Major bus lines operating in Tijuana include Azul y Blanco de Magallanes (Blue & White) and Transporte Efectivo Express de Tijuana – TEEXTI; modernizing system originally intended to phase out the other lines that partially introduced but ceased and merged with Azul y Blanco.

Local buses

In 2006, Tijuana underwent a major overhaul of its existing system of guayines, or shared fixed-route station wagons, forcing the replacement of the guayines with new models of vans, serving as fixed-route taxis. Major transit hubs include Centro (Downtown Tijuana), Otay, Soler, and the Cinco y Diez avenues. Taxi lines operating in the city include Free Taxis, those that do not maintain a specific route; Economic Taxis; Diamond Taxis – black or yellow cabs; and regular taxis maintaining a set route. There are as many bus lines and routes as fixed-route taxi ones or calafias, and new routes for buses, taxis or calafias are frequently created, due to high demand of public transportation. Public transportation service is inexpensive, with bus tickets at maximum, USD $0.75. Fixed-route taxis are somewhat more expensive, depending on the taxi route, reaching USD $2.00. Bus, taxi and calafia lines and routes are distinguished from one another by their vehicles colors.

Local BRT system

A bus rapid transit system SITT operates one route from Downtown Tijuana and Garita Puerto Mexico near the San Ysidro Port of Entry, southeasterly along the Tijuana River to Terminal Insurgentes in the southeast of the city. It is part of a planned system of main and feeder lines to replace other buses and minibuses.[51]

Light rail

Previously there have been plans for a light rail service, for example in January 2009, the City Council and the Ministry of Communications and Transportation announced such a system along the Tijuana River, however so far nothing has come of these plans.[52]

^Note for 2010, much of the 5-year growth has occurred in the municipality of Tijuana (suburbs) rather than the city itself as the urban fringe expands as people escape into isolated suburban subdivisions due to drug violence.

Further reading

Kun, Josh, and Fiamma Montezemolo, eds. Tijuana Dreaming: Life and Art at the Global Border (Duke University Press; 2012) 387 pages; scholarly and popular essays including material translated from Spanish for the first time; topics include the city's image in fiction as a Prohibition-era "city of sin" for American visitors

The American Basketball Association (ABA) is an American semi-professional men's basketball minor league that was founded in 1999. The current ABA bears no relation to the original American Basketball Association (1967-1976) that was considered a Major League, and merged with the National Basketball Association (NBA) in 1976.

Club Tijuana Xoloitzcuintles de Caliente, commonly referred to as Xolos de Tijuana, or simply as Xolos, is a Mexican professional football club from Tijuana, Baja California, Mexico. Founded in January 2007, the club was promoted to Liga MX in 2011, where they have played since. They won their first title in the 2012 Apertura.

Dorados de Sinaloa, or Dorados, is a Mexican professional football club based in Culiacán. The club plays its home games in Culiacán, Mexico. Dorados was the youngest franchise to play in the Primera División de México, having joined the division for the first time for the Apertura 2004 tournament, when the club was only one year old. Dorados currently plays in Ascenso MX, the second tier of the Mexican league. The goalkeeper's colours are a red shirt and white shorts primarily, and the secondary attire is all white.

Enedina Arellano Félix de Toledo (born April 12, 1961) is a Mexican drug lord who leads the criminal organization known as the Tijuana Cartel.

Throughout most of the 1990s, the Tijuana Cartel was headed by her six brothers, while Enedina advised and helped them in money laundering and financial administration. But after the fall of a financial mastermind in the cartel in the year 2000, Enedina took up the position. She first started working behind the scenes as a money launderer for the Tijuana Cartel but then ended up leading the cartel after the arrest of her brother Eduardo Arellano Félix in 2008.Since most of her brothers are either incarcerated or deceased, Enedina has managed the financial aspect of the organization, overseen alliances, and taken the lead of the Tijuana Cartel alongside Luis Fernando (before his capture in 2014). Her historical contacts with drug suppliers in Colombia managed to keep the organization afloat.

Herb Alpert (born March 31, 1935) is an American jazz musician most associated with the group variously known as Herb Alpert & the Tijuana Brass, Herb Alpert's Tijuana Brass, or TJB. Alpert is also a recording industry executive, the "A" of A&M Records, a recording label he and business partner Jerry Moss founded and eventually sold to PolyGram. Alpert also has created abstract expressionist paintings and sculpture over two decades, which are publicly displayed on occasion. Alpert and his wife, Lani Hall, are substantial philanthropists through the operation of the Herb Alpert Foundation.

Alpert's musical accomplishments include five No. 1 albums and 28 albums total on the Billboard Album chart, nine Grammy Awards, fourteen platinum albums, and fifteen gold albums. Alpert has sold 72 million records worldwide. Alpert is the only recording artist to hit No. 1 on the U.S. Billboard Hot 100 pop chart as both a vocalist ("This Guy's in Love with You", 1968), and an instrumentalist ("Rise", 1979).

The Mexico–United States border (Spanish: frontera México–Estados Unidos) is an international border separating Mexico and the United States, extending from the Pacific Ocean in the west to the Gulf of Mexico in the east. The border traverses a variety of terrains, ranging from urban areas to deserts. The Mexico–US border is the most frequently crossed border in the world, with approximately 350 million documented crossings annually.The total length of the continental border is 3,145 kilometers (1,954 mi). From the Gulf of Mexico, it follows the course of the Rio Grande (Río Bravo del Norte) to the border crossing at Ciudad Juárez, Chihuahua, and El Paso, Texas. Westward from El Paso–Juárez, it crosses vast tracts of the Chihuahuan and Sonoran deserts to the Colorado River Delta and San Diego–Tijuana, before reaching the Pacific Ocean.

Miguel Ángel Félix Gallardo (born January 8, 1946), commonly referred to by his alias El Padrino ("The Godfather"), is a convicted Mexican drug lord who formed the Guadalajara Cartel in the 1980s, and controlled almost all of the drug trafficking in Mexico and the corridors along the Mexico–United States border.

Félix Gallardo was arrested for the murder of Drug Enforcement Administration (DEA) agent Enrique Camarena, who was tortured to death on one of Félix Gallardo's ranches. He was serving his 37-year sentence at the Altiplano maximum-security prison but was transferred to a medium-security facility in 2014 due to his declining health.

Operation Tijuana or Operation Baja California ( Spanish: Operativo Tijuana or Operación Baja California) of the Government of Mexico is taking place in Tijuana and the surrounding areas of Baja California and Baja California Sur. This operation is part of the Joint Operation Against Drug Trafficking.

Miguel Ángel López Díaz (born January 8, 1958) is a Mexican retired professional wrestler and trainer, better known by his ring name, Rey Misterio ("King Mystery"). He is also referred to as Rey Misterio Sr. to distinguish him from his nephew.

San Diego–Tijuana is an international metropolitan conurbation, straddling the border of the adjacent North American coastal cities of San Diego, California, United States and Tijuana, Baja California, Mexico. The 2012 population of the region was 4,922,723, making it the largest bi-national conurbation shared between the United States and Mexico, the second-largest shared between the US and another country (after Detroit–Windsor), and the fourth largest in the world. In its entirety, the region consists of San Diego County in the United States and the municipalities of Tijuana, Rosarito Beach, and Tecate in Mexico. It is the third most populous region in the California–Baja California region, smaller only than the metropolitan areas of Greater Los Angeles and the San Francisco Bay Area.

The largest centers of the urban area maintain global city status and as a whole the metropolitan region is host to 13 consulates from Asian, European, North American, Oceanian, and South American nations. Over fifty million people cross the border each year between Tijuana and San Diego, giving the region the busiest land-border crossing in the world. Since the implementation of the North American Free Trade Agreement (NAFTA) in 1994, San Diego–Tijuana has become a dominant commercial center in the United States and Mexico. The economic success of globalization has allowed San Diego–Tijuana to grow to the third richest region in the former Californias region, with a GDP of $136.3 billion in 2002. Renowned for natural beauty, tourism is a leading industry in the region and its coastal environs have been paramount factors in the growth of action sports-lifestyle companies. Other key industries include military, biotech, and manufacturing.

San Diego–Tijuana traces its European roots to 1542 when the land was explored by Portuguese explorers on behalf of imperial Spain. In 1601 it was mandated by the Spanish viceroy in Mexico City that safe ports be found, one of which would be San Diego Bay, for returning Spanish trade ships from Manila to Acapulco. During this mission, the explorer Sebastián Vizcaíno was also told to map the California coast in great detail; leading to the further exploration of the modern day site of San Diego–Tijuana.

The Sinaloa Cartel (Spanish: Cártel de Sinaloa), also known as the Guzmán-Loera Organization, the Pacific Cartel, the Federation and the Blood Alliance, is an international drug trafficking, money laundering, and organized crime syndicate established during the mid-1980s, The cartel is primarily based in the city of Culiacán, Sinaloa, with operations in the Mexican states of Baja California, Durango, Sonora, and Chihuahua. The 'Federation' was partially splintered when the Beltrán-Leyva brothers broke apart from the Sinaloa Cartel.The United States Intelligence Community considers the Sinaloa Cartel "the most powerful drug trafficking organization in the world" and in 2011, the Los Angeles Times called it "Mexico's most powerful organized crime group." The Sinaloa Cartel is associated with the label "Golden Triangle", which refers to the states of Sinaloa, Durango, and Chihuahua. The region is a major producer of Mexican opium and marijuana. According to the U.S. Attorney General, the Sinaloa Cartel was responsible for importing into the United States and distributing nearly 200 tons of cocaine and large amounts of heroin between 1990 and 2008. According to the National Drug Intelligence Center, within the U.S. the Sinaloa Cartel is primarily involved in the distribution of cocaine, heroin, methamphetamine, marijuana and MDMA. It is the majority supplier of illicit fentanyl to North America.As of 2017, the Sinaloa Cartel is the most active drug cartel involved in smuggling illicit drugs into the United States and trafficking them throughout the United States. After the arrest of Joaquín 'El Chapo' Guzmán, the cartel is now headed by Ismael Zambada Garcia (aka El Mayo) and Guzman's sons, Alfredo Guzman Salazar and Ivan Archivaldo Salazar.

The Tijuana Cartel (Spanish: Cártel de Tijuana) or Arellano-Félix Organization (Spanish: Cártel Arellano Félix, CAF) is a Mexican drug cartel based in Tijuana. The cartel once was described as "one of the biggest and most violent criminal groups in Mexico." However, since the 2006 Sinaloa Cartel incursion in Baja California and the fall of the Arellano-Félix brothers, the Tijuana Cartel has been reduced to a few cells. In 2016, the organization has become known as Cartel Tijuana Nueva Generación (New Generation Tijuana Cartel) and has begun to align itself under the Jalisco New Generation Cartel, along with Beltrán Leyva Organization (BLO) to create an anti-Sinaloa alliance, in which the Jalisco New Generation Cartel heads, creating a possible powershift in Mexico.

Tijuana Flats Tex-Mex is an American restaurant chain serving Tex-Mex cuisine. It has over 135 locations throughout Florida, Georgia, South Carolina, North Carolina, Virginia, and Indiana. Tijuana Flats restaurants are fast-casual hybrids with fresh food, hot sauce bars, art murals and off-beat culture. Customers order at the front counter and are served after sitting.

The restaurant was founded in Winter Park, FL in 1995 by University of Central Florida graduate Brian Wheeler with $20,000 in loans. The company had 18 locations before expanding out-of-state in 2004.

Tijuana International Airport (IATA: TIJ, ICAO: MMTJ), sometimes referred to as General Abelardo L. Rodríguez International Airport, in Tijuana, Baja California, Mexico, is Mexico's second northernmost airport after Mexicali International Airport. The airport is located in the city's Otay Centenario borough, just immediately south of the U.S border. It handled 6,332,500 passengers in 2016 and 7,103,200 in 2017. It is the fifth busiest airport in Mexico after Mexico City, Cancun, Guadalajara and Monterrey airports. The airport can handle up to 10 million passengers per year and 360 flights per day.

As of December 9, 2015, with the opening of the Cross Border Xpress bridge and terminal, Tijuana airport can be accessed directly from the U.S.; passengers can walk across a bridge spanning the U.S.-Mexico border between a terminal on the U.S. side and the main facility on the Mexican side.The airport serves as hub for Volaris and a focus for Aeromexico, currently the second leading airline at TIJ, and the only one operating at both concourses. It used to be a focus city for Aero California, Aerolíneas Internacionales, Líneas Aéreas Azteca, and ALMA de Mexico. Tijuana's airport was the largest and main hub for Avolar, a new low-cost airline (since August 2005), and the airport's second leading airline at a time. It was one of the first low-cost airlines in Mexico, such as SARO and TAESA.

It is operated by Grupo Aeroportuario del Pacífico, a holding group that controls 12 international airports in central and northern Mexico. In terms of domestic destinations (totalling 32 cities), it is the best connected airport after Mexico City.

Tijuana Slough National Wildlife Refuge is located in the most southwestern corner of the contiguous United States. It is part of the San Diego National Wildlife Refuge Complex. It was established in 1980.The slough is one of southern California's largest remaining salt marshes without a road or railroad trestle running through it. This important salt marsh is surrounded by San Diego County and Tijuana, Mexico, with a population of 4.3 million people. Within this international bioregion, the refuge maintains essential habitats for many migrating shorebirds and waterfowl along the Pacific Flyway.Tijuana Slough provides critical habitat for the federally listed endangered California least tern (Sterna antillarum browni), light-footed rail (Rallus obsoletus levipes) and least Bell's vireo (Vireo bellii pusillus), as well as the salt marsh bird's-beak (Cordylanthus maritimus maritimus), an endangered plant species. Designated as a Globally Important Bird Area by the American Bird Conservancy, over 370 species of birds have been sighted on the refuge.The refuge's habitat and wildlife management programs focus on the recovery of endangered species through research, habitat restoration, and environmental education.

The refuge is part of a larger unit called the Tijuana River National Estuarine Research Reserve, which is administered by the National Oceanographic and Atmospheric Administration. The Tijuana Reserve is one of 22 National Estuarine Research Reserves created nationwide to enhance scientific and public understanding of estuaries, and thereby contribute to improved estuarine management.

Tijuana bibles (also known as eight-pagers, Tillie-and-Mac books, Jiggs-and-Maggie books, jo-jo books, bluesies, blue-bibles, gray-backs, and two-by-fours) were palm-sized pornographic comic books produced in the United States from the 1920s to the early 1960s. Their popularity peaked during the Great Depression era.

Most Tijuana bibles were obscene parodies of popular newspaper comic strips of the day, such as "Blondie", "Barney Google", "Moon Mullins", "Popeye", "Tillie the Toiler", "The Katzenjammer Kids", "Dick Tracy", "Little Orphan Annie", and "Bringing Up Father". Others made use of characters based on popular movie stars, and sports stars of the day, such as Mae West, Clark Gable and Joe Louis, sometimes with names thinly changed. Before World War II, almost all the stories were humorous and frequently were cartoon versions of well-known dirty jokes that had been making the rounds for decades.

The artists, writers, and publishers of these booklets are generally unknown, as their publication was illegal, clandestine, and anonymous. The quality of the artwork varied widely. The subjects are explicit sexual escapades usually featuring well-known newspaper comic strip characters, movie stars, and (rarely) political figures, invariably used without respect for either copyright or libel law and without permission. Tijuana bibles repeated the ethnic stereotypes found in popular culture at the time, although one Tijuana bible ("You Nazi Man") concluded on a serious note with a brief message from the publisher pleading for greater tolerance in Germany for the Jews.The typical bible was an eight-panel comic strip in a wallet-sized 2.5 in × 4 in (64 mm × 102 mm) with black print on cheap white paper and running eight pages in length.

The Tijuana metropolitan area, and in Spanish the Zona Metropolitana de Tijuana, is located on the Pacific Ocean in Mexico. The 2010 census placed the Tijuana metropolitan area as the fifth largest in the country with 1,751,302 persons. The census bureau defined metropolitan area comprises two municipalities: Tijuana and Rosarito Beach. Yet sources commonly include Tecate Municipality in the metropolitan area as the urban area between Tijuana and Tecate grows, the commuting populace increases - ultimately further developing the southern areas of San Diego–Tijuana, and the three municipalities maintain strong relationships and cooperation.

Érik Isaac Morales Elvira (; born September 1, 1976) is a Mexican former professional boxer who competed from 1993 to 2012. He is the first Mexican-born boxer in history to win world titles in four different weight classes, having held the WBC super bantamweight title from 1997 to 2000; the WBC featherweight twice between 2001 and 2003; the unified WBC and IBF super featherweight titles in 2004; and the WBC super lightweight title from 2011 to 2012.

Morales defeated fifteen world champions during the course of his career, and is famous for his trilogies with fellow Mexican legend Marco Antonio Barrera, as well as Manny Pacquiao. ESPN ranked Morales at number 49 on their list of the 50 greatest boxers of all time.

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